100 Theme Challenge
by Inspirational Spark
Summary: A hundred theme challenge from InfamousPlot, containing glimpses into Sonic & Friends' lives.
1. Chapter 1

**Beginning**

'In the beginning,' Sonic mused, 'it was just a game. Run here, run there. Hit Mr. McFatty's machines 'till they burst, literally.' He inwardly chuckled at this point in his thoughts. Then he instantly sobered up again. 'But lately, it's all been sort of a blur...'

The hedgehog was hanging upside down at the edge of a cliff, with no clue about where he was in relation to the rest of his world and how he got there. After realizing that he was just dreaming, he had decided to use this time to reflect on his life. Cliffs did that to you, he had read somewhere once. So he was reminiscing about his life, from his first days defeating Robotnik, to when Robuttnik first changed his name to Eggman, to when he first met Shadow, to figuring out why all this seemed so repetitive and boring, to... where he was now.

His thoughts went by him, the special effects of dreams finally catching on to what he wanted. He decided to start from the beginning, the place where it all began, sorta- Green Hill Zone.


	2. Green Hill Zone

**Green Hill Zone**

He was running, like always. Through the bend, around the curve. He often ran here, savoring the smell of the grass he was running on and the bouncy feel of the turf, perfect for the use he made of it. He didn't question the fact that everything looked like it was sculpted just for him. That was just the way it had always been.

Recognizing the domed head below him on the next ledge as a common Motobug, he disposed of it with ease. Sonic jumped through the level, making it through in record time as he dashed behind the checkpoint sign Robotnik oh so _conveniently_ set up, making enough wind to spin it around like a weathercock in a storm until it depicted Sonic. He didn't bother wondering why Buttnik painted signs with _him_ on the back. It was just what he did.

"Alright! Made it! And in record time, too," Sonic cheered. He looked around, waiting for someone to continue the cheer, then shrugged. Maybe the animals who lived here were resting? Shrugging again, the hedgehog crossed his arms and waggled a finger. He winked, then sighed. If only he had a friend to share this moment with.

**These are going to be rather short. There are a hundred of them, remember. But since I view this as a personal challenge rather than an obligation to myself, this challenge will take higher priority over our other ones. I apologize for all those who have actually been reading my stories, but it's not really fun to write these things if no one's reading them.**


	3. Friends

**Friends**

Miles Prower dragged his tails in the dirt. Not only had they ripped up and torn apart his brand new model airplane, but they broke his first real working model, too! He had loved seeing the blades go around, and he gasped in wonder as the plane took flight for the first time. And now it was gone. Miles hung his head in dejection.

He almost didn't notice the plane. It made itself known to him only after he nearly tripped over its wing. Rubbing his leg where he bruised it, he lifted his head to notice the smudge in the plane's paint. He gasped as the thought hit him, then glanced down at his leg. Sure enough, there was a crimson streak on the offending limb. Miles buried his head in his hands, then slowly lifted it up as a thought occurred to him.

Happily humming a catchy tune he had heard on the way to school, Miles painted the plane. He stroked the brush up, then down one more time, applying the finishing touches to the new blue coat of paint, a color that he thought suited it much better than the scarlet is was covered in before. He was just stepping back to admire his handiwork when he heard someone cough behind him.

Miles jumped two feet in the air. "Please don't hurt me!" he cowered. "I just..."

The stranger held up his hands. "Spare me the drama. I saw you painting the plane, and I know you wouldn't hurt it from the expression on your face. It seemed like you needed it, so I left you be."

Miles gaped. This stranger wasn't hurting him? Or calling him names?

The blue hedgehog laughed. "Anyway. I need an engineer. Someone who really likes mechanics, and who I can trust to not run away with the gadgets. Think you fit the bill?" He caught sight of Miles' questioning gaze, rolled his eyes, and reformatted his question. "I mean, do you want to be my engineer and mechanic?"

Miles' eyes grew wide. "You really mean it?"

His unnamed benefactor laughed again. "Why would I be saying this if I didn't mean it?" He grew serious again, and started tapping his foot against the ground impatiently. "So will you take the job or not?"

The young fox nodded. "For sure!" He tilted his head to the side. "But what should I call you?"

"Call me Sonic."

"Sonic...?"

He nodded his head. "Sonic's my name, speed's my game. What's yours?"

Miles thought for a second. "Well, my name's Miles. But I've always sorta wanted to be called Tails." He glanced behind him at his fluffy appendages. "It just seems fitting."

Sonic flipped him a thumbs up. "You got it... Tails."

Miles beamed with pride. "Friends?"

His new employer thought it over a second, then smiled. "Friends."


	4. Ring

**Ring**

Tails was working in his new lab, happily experimenting with various chemicals. He sloshed a purple beaker's contents into an Erlenmeyer flask, along with the lavender and gold colored liquids he already had in the flask. Adding colors as he went, he didn't notice that his experiment was solidifying until it hardened into a golden halo just big enough to wear on one's wrist like a bangle, bursting the flask into a dozen glass shards.

A blue blur zoomed into the lab. "You alright?" it asked the startled fox, resolving itself into Tails' new friend Sonic as he spoke.

Tails shook his head dazedly. "Well, yeah, just a few scrapes from the glass..." he replied nervously, "...but I broke the flask."

The hedgehog had stopped paying attention. By the time Tails got his sentence out, he was already inspecting the item. "Wha's this?" he inquired, picking up the golden object and twirling it around his finger.

"I dunno..." Tails picked up the ring from the ground where it had fallen off of Sonic's finger and turned it over in his hands. As he held it still, it sank into his gloves. The fox's eyes widened, but the ring did no harm. On the contrary, it healed all his scrapes. After realizing that the gold item did him no harm, he got up to shut the open door, moving a little faster than he normally would, with a light golden aura, barely visible to all but Sonic's highly trained, quick moving eye, undulating around him.

After a few minutes had passed, spent by Sonic watching his little buddy very carefully, the golden glow around Tails faded, taking with it the faster speed and some of the young fox's energy. As Tails collapsed on the floor, Sonic ran over to pat him on the back. "What're we gonna call it?"

The fox tilted his head. "Whaddya mean?"

"The... thing. It's useful, so what are we gonna call it?"

"I dunno... a Ring?"

The hedgehog shrugged. "Works for me."


	5. Villain

Dr. Ivo Robotnik stood up, with some difficulty, and walked over to the cages where he kept the animals he used as lab experiments. He wrote down the results of the new technique he had been perfecting on each one. The thing that had once been a rabbit was wrinkling its metal nose, getting used to the cage again and processing the new data in its system. Robotnik nodded his head. Things were going well with that one. He scribbled something down on his clipboard, then went to check on the chipmunk.

That one wasn't taking too well with its new status. It appeared to retain too much of its prior lifestyle, the doctor mused, marking it down on the clipboard. Maybe a mind control device would help it... comply a little better? He took out the small scalpel and, ignoring the small creature's cries of pain, made the incision. Then he left it. His creatures needed to learn to tolerate pain.

He finished his rounds, and settled down again into his swivel chair. It was all very well and good to have loyal underlings, of course, but his just never turned out as obedient as he wanted them too, and were always too skittish and scared to serve him the right way. He was sure the frequent surgeries with no anesthesia had nothing to do with it. Who would want to be horrified at the way he was taking such good care of his servants? What other mad scientist would take the time to turn his not so loyal employees into the perfect taskforce? Robotnik accepted the hot coffee brought to him by the butler, who was shaking so hard that the cup rattled on the tray. He tapped his chin. "Ah, I know just what to do with you," he thought out loud to the butler. "I shall give you new legs, so that you shall be my height. That should eliminate the problem of your stature compared to my fine example of human anatomy. Of course, those unsightly ones will have to be removed, first." He sipped at the chocolatey drink calmly.

The butler ran screaming out of the room.

"Drat," said the evil genius. "I shall have to find a new butler."


	6. Emerald

Tails and Sonic were sitting at the table, eating breakfast together. That was a rare occurrence, since Sonic usually didn't wait around for very long before heading out on his 'morning run', which could last until decided to ask Sonic why he was still here at all, and not running through Green Hill Zone.

As if reading his thoughts, Sonic put down the newspaper and sighed. "It's not the same, without the little animals cheering me on through the loops."

The golden fox stared at the paper his friend had just put down, entranced by the words. It looked like he was almost getting the hang of this 'reading' thing, after all! He smiled with pride. Building was going to be a whole lot easier when he could understand the directions without relying on the pictures. Then he noticed the pictures. They were in color, but Tails wished they weren't. He could see the tortured butler clearly, his last expression a gruesome scream as different death scenes that could have possibly created the huge scars on his face and arms and the existence of something vaguely metallic on his left leg played in Tails' head. He poked the blue hedgehog's arm. "What does this say?"

Sonic picked up the paper again. "I dunno, I hadn't gotten there yet." He quickly skimmed the paper, eyes narrowing as he looked at the unfamiliar squiggles of the polysyllabic words on the page. "Right. We're going to have to teach you to read, so you can tell me what all these words mean."

After a quick lesson on the alphabet and words, which Tails picked up rather faster than he should have, it was time to look through the large dictionary that Sonic kept for when he actually _wanted_ to read, to remind him why he shouldn't. The fox went through it with seeming ease, only needing Sonic's help with sounding words out once or twice. The words were translated into Mobian that even Sonic could read, and the two soon found out what the paper said.

"So this madman, Robuttnik," Sonic summarized. "He's up to what, exactly?"

Tails interjected. "His name's Dr. RobOtnik, actually."

The hedgie shrugged. "Whatever his name is, I'm calling him Eggman."

This earned him a laugh from his hanger-on. "He does look like one, doesn't he?" The hedgehog nodded, so Tails continued. "Anyway, it says he's working on turning the innocent citizens into mindless, robotic slaves in a process he calls 'robotization'."

Sonic's ears perked up."Wait, so he actually told them this?"

"Yep. He demanded a press conference and everything."

The older Mobian whistled. "Wow. That's...that's pretty conceited, even for a madman that sounds as mad as he does." He jumped up, and ran to the door in a burst of speed that rustled the newspaper.

"H-hey! Where are you going?"

"To fight Eggman, of course!" the azure hedgehog cockily announced.

Tails stood up. "Wait for me!"

_A few hours later..._

Tails, after finally catching up with Sonic, was very surprised when the hedgehog disappeared into what look like a gigantic version of the Ring that Tails had made just a little while ago in his lab. 'So they are naturally occurring as well,' Tails mused, pulling out a well-used notebook and scribbling some information on it. 'They must appear outside of well-travelled areas, or else someone would have found them already.'

There was a whoosh, and the large Ring disappeared, leaving a triumphant hedgehog in its place. "What up, bro?" Sonic tossed his catch up into the air- A bright green jewel that sparkled in the sunlight.

Tails blinked. "What is it?"

His idol shrugged. "Dunno." He caught the gem in a downward swoop with one hand. "My only guess is, it's a mythical Chaos Emerald."


	7. Hero

After running through countless zones, discovering more of Eggman's plan of robotization along the way and meeting someone called Knuckles, who was persuaded by the madman to attack Sonic and Tails, the hero and his side kick finally caught up with Eggman for the final battle, or what looked like it. They had also collected all seven of the gems- green, yellow, pink, blue, white, red, and cyan. The team still didn't know what they were for, but as Sonic said, 'We'll find out when we need to!'

Now the two were in Eggman's secret super weapon, the Death Egg. Even the newspapers didn't know about it, which was sort of odd, considering that he had let them know about the rest of his plans. Why did he do that, anyway? Sonic didn't know, but a nagging feeling at the back of his head reminded him about the other mysterious coincidences that followed him- just managing to regaining his footing when he fell off of a cliff, how the evil genius always seemed to forget his speed when he built his new robots, how the courses looked to be designed just for him... The list went on and on. He shrugged the feeling off in order to pay attention to the speech Eggman was making. Then he tuned it out again, twirling his finger.

"Get on with it, okay?" he yawned. "This is getting really boring."

The fat guy in the hovercraft above him shook his his fist angrily. "Stop ruining my speeches, you blue pest!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "For the last time, it's Sonic. Not Blue Rat."

Eggman shrugged. "Whatever. As I was saying, eat robot!"

Pressing the button conveniently located on his hovercraft, the doctor cause a series of explosions that the blue hedgehog, carrying his younger brother, was just able to avoid. The floor of the base wasn't so lucky. It started to but and fall away as a slightly smaller, but just as functional and deadly, Death Egg rose up out of the base's interior.

"You thought this was the real Death Egg, didn't you?" the evil doctor maniacally laughed.  
>Meanwhile, Sonic tripped over a bit of debris from the prior floor, spilling the passenger on his back onto the floor and the precious gems onto the floor. He took no heed of that fact, however, because he had managed to fall straight onto the departing Egg and grabbed hold of it., falling through the emeralds as he did so. As his fur changed to a bright gold, he leaned down as far as he could.<p>

"TAILS!"

"Don't worry about me!" his friend shouted back. "I programed the plane!"

Not having any idea what the fox was talking about, but trusting him and realizing that there was little he could do anyway, he managed to realize that he was flying.

Getting control over himself again, he put one and one together(he didn't know enough of math to do two plus two) to figure out that this must be the hidden function of the Chaos Emeralds. With that figured out, he flew after the retreating egg, who had decided to call it quits and back off cowardily when his adversary started emitting light.

Carefully avoiding asteroids, which curiously had just enough space for him to slip through(he added that to his mental list of coincidences), he zoomed straight through the exterminator, his speed tearing through the metal as if it were butter. As his transformation ran out and his fur started fading back to blue, he fell through space. Sure, it was depressing to think of him meeting his end when he was only ten still, but at least he probably got rid of that menace to society, at least he would have the honor of dying by reentry instead of a boring death like being shot, or even worse-he shuddered, or tried to- drowning. Then he heard Tails calling him from below. He rolled over laboriously, and saw Tails flying a more modified version of the plane that he had been painting when Sonic had met him. The tired hedgehog landed on the wing of the plane, the predecessor of many such landings to come.

Not really knowing why, Tails took the plane for a fly-by, tilting each wing a little in turn before triumphantly flying back to Floating Island. Sonic waved his finger.

"Watch out, world!" he shouted. "'cause I'm gonna protect you from now on, whether you like it or not!"

And thus ended my first adventure, Sonic thought, crossing his arms. Now, what happened next? Oh, yes, that...


	8. Sick

Tails stirred the soup, tasted it, and put some more chili in it. Then he tasted it again. This time he decided it was good, and put it on a tray. He took it into the living room, and set it down on the side table. The fox went upstairs to get a washcloth, and put it under some cold water for awhile before bringing it down again and putting it on his friend's forehead.

"Are you any better?" the golden vulpine asked worriedly.

The hedgehog just moaned. Then he rolled over. Then he moaned again.

Tails sighed. Sure, falling through the atmosphere took a lot out of you, but Sonic should have recovered by now, right? It had been almost two months now!

Turning off the light, the young Mobian went up the stairs again, this time to go to bed. Maybe things would be better in the morning?

Walking down the stairs, Tails hoped against hope that his friend would be better. He turned on the hall light, and was surprised to find that there was no one on the couch. Frantically flinging the covers every which way, the fox was seriously tempted to sit down and start sobbing hysterically.

"Heh..."

Tails quickly turned around, expecting a burglar or worse, but it was only Sonic, panting and leaning weakly against the doorframe.

He ran over and this time, he did start crying. "W-why? Why did you leave me all alone? I was worried!"

The hedgehog's eyes widened as he remembered the fact that the golden fox was only six years old. He cautiously rubbed his charge's head. "Whoops... Guess I forgot..." He sneezed with such force that he went flying into the opposite wall.

Tails sniffled. "D-don't do that again... Please!"

Sonic sneezed again. "What? All I did was go out for a ru-"

"It was raining, wasn't it?" The vulpine interrupted, rubbing his nose with his arm. He took the blue hedgehog's silence for an affirmative, and shook him by the shoulders. "Now you've probably gotten a cold, or pneumonia, or hypothermia, or-" He noticed Sonic's face, and stopped saying long words. "The point is, you've made yourself even MORE sick now!" He started crying again. "And then you'll probably die and Idon'twannabealone!" The fox grabbed him by the shoulders again and pulled him into a hug, sobbing steadily into the older one's shoulder.

Not quite knowing what to do, Sonic patted him on the back, then hugged Tails back. "Don't worry, pal," he whispered in the other's ear. "No matter what, I'll be here for you."

Tails straightened up a little, still sobbing, but not as much. He looked up at his hero with wide, trusting eyes that sparkled like sapphires. "And I'll do the same. Because you're my friend."

As the sun went down, they still sat there in the middle of the room, each hugging the other, praying that this moment could last forever.


	9. Love

Sonic and Tails sat around the table, drinking hot tea. They would have been drinking hot chocolate, as per Sonic's request, but Tails had told him just in time that he wasn't supposed to eat chocolate. It was a common problem with canines, he had told him, and it would make him really sick.

The hedgehog stirred his tea, trying to imitate an English Mobian he saw on TV once just for the fun of it. "So, Mom," he leaned over to talk to his brother, "I can go outside now, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Tails nodded. "But don't fall into any puddles from last night's rain, okay?"

The hero drained his cup, and dashed out the door, pausing to wish a final goodbye before he left for his run.

The fox drummed his fingers against the table, a habit he was beginning to pick up from who knows where. "Am I doing the right thing, letting him out this early?" he asked himself. "He could get seriously sick again, and that would be, well, bad."

No sooner had he finished his thought when he heard a scream.

Toppling over his chair in his hurry to get to the door, Tails burst open the exit of his home to see Sonic struggling to breath with an unfamiliar pink hedgehog strangling him in her hurry to hug him senseless. She was wearing a green blouse with an orange skirt, white gloves, a red headband, and blue and orange sneakers, and she was wearing her spikes in a style exactly identical to Sonic's except for a set of three bangs that stood straight up on her forehead.

"Um..." Tails started, "Sonic? Are you okay?"

Sonic couldn't do much besides gasp for air, but the unfamiliar face turned around to face the fox. "Oh, who are you? I'm Amy Rose, and this is my absolute hero, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The twin tailed, golden vulpine sweatdropped as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I know who he is. He lives with me."

"Oh, THAT'S how it is, is it?" Venom practically dripped off of the pink hedgehog's words as she lifted Sonic up to face her again. Then she noticed that his muzzle was turning blue, and she hurriedly dropped it with a quick apology.

Once he got his breath back, the hero lifted himself up off the ground. His face flushed as he caught her implication. "I-it's not like that, I swear! I'm no pedophile. Tails is my friend. It's technically my house, but he uses it far more than I do. I mostly sleep outside or on the roof, but when it's raining I use one of the spare bedrooms."

Her face relaxed as the impact of his calming words spread and was processed. "Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." She grabbed the blue speed demon by the waist and rubbed her cheek on his head as Tails sweatdropped some more by the side and Sonic struggled vainly to get out of her vise-like grip. "But he's my HERO! He and I are going to marry some day, mark my words! We're SOUL MATES!"

The first hedgehog finally wriggled out of the other's grasp. "Um, no. I'm only TEN, for Pete's sakes! And I've only just met you! I barely know anything about you!"

"Well, that can be easily remedied," the female said sweetly. "You'll just invite me into that house of yours over there, and we can share our souls and then our hearts with each other!"

"Um, no thanks."

The rosy-hued hedgie smiled dangerously as she held out her hand. A giant hammer materialized in it, not for the last time. "You sure about that?"

The boys' eyes grew wide. Sonic quickly scooped up his brother, zooming into the house. As the sound of many locks clicking was heard, the remaining hedgehog let the hammer disappear as she snapped the fingers on one gloved hand irritably. She shook her fist at the sky. "I'll get you yet, Sonic the Hedgehog!" she vowed. "And then we'll marry, you'll see!"

Inside the house, two sighing sounds were heard as the girl ran back over the hill of the Mystic Ruins.


	10. Chaos

Sonic and Tails sat at the table, reading the newspaper.

"Flooding a lot these days, isn't it," Sonic remarked, looking at the weather section.

Tails nodded. "Guess so. It's sorta weird, though, because it hasn't even been raining or anything."

"Mm." The hero put down the newspaper and walked over to the living room. "I'm going to watch TV. At least the pictures are MOVING, unlike all these words."

The screen flickered on, and Sonic flipped to the Discovery Channel after discovering that Mythbusters was on. The TV show was a win-win for the boys, because Tails liked to see the science while Sonic liked watching things blow up. Savage the Wildcat was just explaining the myth for today(whether or not Jawbreakers would explode if put in the microwave), while Moustache the Walrus contemplated highly explosive chemicals in the offending candies. They were just getting set to bust the myth when a face with a moustache even bigger than Moustache's showed up on the screen. "People of Mobius," it declared, "I am Dr. Eggman Robotnik, soon to be ruler of the universe!" He paused for a quick maniacal laugh while Sonic turned to his brother.

"Wow, I didn't think he'd actually take that to heart. It'll be kind of funny, though, having a nemesis named after a chicken byproduct."

Robotnik came back from his trip into the Land of Maniacal Laughter and resumed his speech, waving at a hulking, watery figure behind him with glowing green eyes. "This is my good fiend Chaos. Right now he is in his Zero form, but watch this!" The fat villain held up the cyan Chaos Emerald and tossed it to the creature. "Watch and be amazed!" The monster caught the emerald, drawing it inside itself. Chaos glowed, metamorphosing into... the same creature. "Fear the new Chaos, Chaos 1!"

"Now back to your regularly scheduled program." The announcer, well, announced, and Mythbusters came back on. But the damage was done.

"Well, that was... interesting," Sonic remarked. "They probably couldn't have come up with a more original name for the first form of that Chaos creature than Chaos 1, though. What was the difference, anyway?"

Tails shook his head. "The difference is, now we're short one emerald!" He tapped his chin. "Oh, and I think it grew some bones in one arm."

His friend shrugged. "Same difference."

"Actually, a same difference, as you say, would be a physiological impossibility, and therefore an oxymoron-" He caught the speed demon's glare and trailed off. "Right. Same difference. Got it."

"Whatever." Sonic stood up and walked out the door. "Well, I'm going to go take care of this Chaos, and maybe cause some along the way. See ya!" He ran out the open doorway and was quickly out of sight.

The fox set out the dinner plates. He scratched his head over whether or not to put one down for Sonic, but eventually decided to, just in case. He hoped that he wouldn't be here in time for dinner, because today was the day that Amy had insisted on inviting everyone to a dinner party at the sidekick's house. It was a good thing I built a dish washer the other day, Tails reflected.

The doorbell rang. The golden vulpine opened the door, revealing a slightly aggravated Knuckles. "I sure hope that guard machine works," he growled. "Or you will FEEL MY FIST." He stomped inside to his place.

The doorbell rang again, and Tails let Amy Rose in. "Oh wow, this will be SO romantic!" she gushed. "All it needs is my boyfriend! Hey, sidekick, do you know where Sonic the Hedgehog is?"

"He went out to go defeat that monster Robotnik was talking about. And my name is Tails."

"Well, whatever. Even if he's not here, you can stand in, right? Tails, was it?"

"Umm...Well..." The fox hemmed and hawed, trying to get out of this. "Oh, yeah!" he exclaimed, glad of the excuse. "I forgot about the Flicky! It's probably burnt by now..."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "I'm vegetarian." She tossed her quills, and Tails saw that she must have been older than he had thought she was, because the female looked to be about 14 now, even though only a year had passed since he had last met her. She wore a red dress now with white trim, red boots with a white stripe going down the middle, her red headband, and ring bracelets, and her quills were arranged more like an echidna's now. Tails had to admit that the style change befitted her greatly. "And I've got to maintain my girlish figure," she added when she noticed the fox staring at her. "What? Haven't you seen a girl in new clothes before?" She noticed his blank look. "Hello? Shopping spree?"

The valiant fox shook himself out of his reverie and went to tend the Flicky.

Ten minutes later, the blue hedgehog showed up, a little out of breath. "Okay, Knuckles? I need your help with..."

The echidna stood up and pounded the table. "If it's about the Master Emerald, no you don't! I locked it up with Tails's security thingamajig!" He pulled out what looked like a mobile phone. "Still. I'll just check it, to make sure." He hit a few buttons, then his eyes narrowed. "So. That's how it is. Well, mister hedgehog, where is it?"

"Where is what?"

"The Master Emerald, fool!"

"What about it?"

"Don't play dumb! I had it all locked up with Tails's..." He looked around. "So. I see. You, mister I'm So Smart fooled me into believing your phony security thing worked while this blue..." He trailed off as he noticed the seven year old's gaze and the ten year old lady's stare and amended his word. "...villain snuck off and stole MY EMERALD!"

"That's enough." Sonic's voice was suddenly strong, all sense of fun gone from it now. "You can call me what you like, but keep your mouth off of my brother!"

Knuckles walked over to the door. "Let's take this outside, then. Winner gets these beautes." He took out two Chaos Emeralds from his hammer space, laying them gently on the table.

"You're on." Sonic's voice was determined, and his gaze didn't waver.

The two walked outside and began fighting, Knuckles throwing a punch here, Sonic dodging everything and getting a few kicks in, Knuckles retaliating with a well timed slug or two, until Tails noticed something moving. It looked like a puddle, so he ignored it, turning his attention back to the fighting.

Chaos reformed inside the house. He slid over to the table, ignoring the scraps of Flicky on Tails's and Knuckles's plates and concentrating instead on the two glittering gems on the table. He took in both of them, turning into his fourth form, Chaos 4, a froglike creature with a humped back, four limbs with fins, and a tail. The two fighters, noticing the light in the house, forgot about their complaints and settled on fighting the monster, especially after witnessing it looking at a portable television screen from which Robotnik praised him for distracting the hedgehog and echidna while he grabbed the Master Emerald.

"So that was how he took it," whispered Knuckles. "That sneak probably hacked through that passcode in the hour it took me to get down here." He shared a glance with Sonic, and the two burst out from behind the door, prompting the creature to run past it into the Mystic Ruins.

Meanwhile, Amy, who had seen the Egg Carrier passing overhead and who had caught a small Flickie who fell out of it, who she immediately nicknamed Lily, was being kidnapped by a robot without the others' noticing...


	11. Angst

Though Amy was kicking and screaming, the other Mobians were busy chasing off Chaos and didn't hear her being carried away. At least I found and rescued this Flicky, she thought to herself. Hmm... I'll name it Lily.

As Amy figured out what to call the birdlike creature, the robot that had picked her up with a claw from the Egg Carrier trundled into view. A green robot with red and yellow accents, Alpha/Zero looked sort of like a compact trash can. The robot picked the hedgehog up forcibly, dragging her to the prison block, which was guarded by another E-series bot, which was mostly red, with some yellow and black areas upon its carapace, and had a large gun for a right arm. Unlike the other E-Series bot, this creation's eyes seemed to hold a spark of intelligence, Amy thought.

As soon as Alpha left, Gamma rounded on Amy. "Give me the bird," he intoned monotonously.

**(A/N: I really wish I could make Amy say that she would, but my sensors wouldn't allow it. However, I'm trying to stay true to the storyline.)**

She gasped, eyes widening. "I can't let you do that! Lily is my friend. I won't let you hurt her."

"Why save that which is useless to you?" The robot's eyes dimmed in the equivalent of a blink. "Does not compute."

Lily broke free of Amy's protective hold, much to her dismay, and flew up to Gamma, staring him in the eyes.

Something stirred in Gamma, a little pink symbol of hope. Wings beat against the inside of his metal chest cavity. Something changed for him.

In an outburst of pain, the normal side effect for robots that betrayed the Great Master, Gamma reached over and let the girl out of the cage. "Hurry. Leave, before they discover that you are not here."

The pink heroine was surprised and touched. Kissing him lightly on the head, she turned to look at him. "You're a friend. And I won't forget you!" She blinked back tears at his heroic betrayal of his overlord, and ran down the hallway to the main deck.

Gamma's communicator bleeped. "Hello, E-102? This is your creator speaking. We have an intrusion of pests onboard, and you are required to deal with them." The robot raised his head up again and took off for the deck, passing the fleeing ex-prisoner on the way. When he got there, he saw the intruders his master had been talking about, a blue hedgehog and a golden fox. A red light flashed in this interior, recognizing these Mobians as enemies thanks to the Doctor's immediately started attacking the blue one with his cannon, mildly surprised at how fast his target really was. Sonic had just begun to turn his wickedly fast moving spikes on the robot when Amy rushed in.

Swallowing her prepared speech about how he must love her because he came to rescue her, the girl rushed in between them. "You two, stop fighting!" She turned to Gamma. "Please don't hurt him; he's on our side!" She turned around again to face Sonic. "And please, don't hurt him either! He switched sides, he's not that fattie's servant anymore!"

Reluctantly, both males stood down. The danger wasn't over yet, though, because the Carrier was falling.

"Eggman must have gotten off the ship. I can tell, because without his weight, it's not balanced right anymore," Sonic cracked. Running over to the renovated Tornado 2, as he was closest, he managed to get it in the air, laboriously, before the floor underneath him crumpled. Tails and Amy weren't so lucky. Tails just managed to grab her, jumping off the side before he realized that he couldn't fly. Twirling his tails a little, he was a little surprised to find that he slowed down. Using this to his advantage, he touched down safely a ways away from Sonic, much to Amy's chagrin. Gamma had it easiest. Using his jets, he easily reached ground first, landing in a mountainous region. He deleted his master program, realizing that it was only another piece of Eggman's propaganda, and set off to free the trapped birds he knew were in his brothers' chest cavities.

Three robots later, Gamma lay mortally wounded after finally defeating his last target, his brother Beta. He could have Auto-Healed himself, but he recognized the need to set the Flickies free from all of their confinements, including himself.

As Gamma collapsed, Amy, who had followed him there, also collapsed, in tears. She wiped her eyes with her arm, gathering her determination, and began to dig, lowering the fallen companion into his final resting place. "Be well, friend," she whispered, and smiled. She knew he would be. She couldn't explain how, or why she knew. But she knew all the same, and though it had been a sad ending, it had been a hero's death, and one that would stay with her forever, regardless of his robotic nature.


	12. Hate

Tails had renovated the Tornado, Robotnik had changed his name to Eggman and made an alliance with the good guys, Chaos had eaten all the emeralds and was now destroying Station Square- a typical adventure for Sonic the Hedgehog. He had gone back in time a number of times, once with Knuckles, who had seemed to calm down a little, and had met another echidna; a female named Tikal. Apparently _she _was that little pink floaty thing that kept on following him around. He shrugged. Still pretty normal. But the emeralds he had come to rely on floated there, dull and lifeless. He didn't know what would happen to him if he went Super, but he was willing to bet that it wouldn't be pretty.

Perfect Chaos rampaged, destroying the city that Sonic had sworn to protect while he stood watching, powerless for once in his life. The rain pounded, flattening the Mobians' ears against their heads in a feeble effort to protect them from the leeching cold brought on by the precipitation. They hunched into themselves, too cold and wet for comfort, watching the city-_their_ city- come down piece by piece. Things looked as they felt- hopeless.

The hero glanced at the emeralds again, hoping for a miracle in which they would suddenly be restored to their former glory. He pricked his ears again. Was there something stirring, deep within the gem? His ears drooped again as he sighed. No, nothing. The emeralds also reflected the situation. They lay there, cold, dark, and filled with hate.


	13. Dark

Tails wasn't sure what to do. The emeralds were useless, and for once, it didn't seem like Sonic would win. The sky, just like the future, seemed bleak and dark. There was no hope, something kept whispering to him. No hope at all. Why don't you just give up?

But he couldn't let Sonic down, he told himself. No matter how much damage the city sustained, he would never give up hope. Because even though light has its place, darkness needs to be there too. And now it was darkness's turn in the ever-whirling spectrum of life.


	14. Light

His eyes were closed, visualizing different ways to combat this monster at nearly the speed at which he ran. It still seemed hopeless, but there had to be a hidden key somewhere, right? He was coming to recognize how his life moved, how the metaphorical 'gameplay' of his life worked. Thoughts turned themselves over, one by one, with no result. Until he noticed that he could feel his friends. Knuckles was a little nervous about this new threat, but determined not to show it. Amy was, of course, thinking about him, but to his surprise, seemed to be genuinely concerned for his wellbeing. Tails was extremely nervous, but still believed. And there was something else, too, something familiar. It felt... pink to him. There was no other word for it. Just pink. But there- he rewound his thoughts, and there it was. Belief. His eyes snapped open. The belief gathered, and one by one, person by person, it grew stronger and stronger until, finally, a spark of life appeared, flickered, grew bigger, flared into color, passed to the next cold, hard rock... The emeralds were on the field again, and suddenly, the future seemed a lot brighter.


	15. Monster

One by one, the emeralds brightened, drawing on the positive energy of those present and turning the power into useable energy. Sonic's eyes hardened. He knew what he had to do. He drank in the light, ready to transform, once again, into the super stage his friends affectionately referred to as 'Super Sonic'.

"Wait!"

He turned around, only half done with the transformation. One quill was floating, while the others remained affected by the oppressive force known as gravity, and one eye was taking on a reddish hue. The pink ball of light, which had been following him most of the way on this adventure, he noted, was shimmering and changing form. A young echidna girl stepped out of the light, looking slightly weak, yet determined, in her tribal wear.

"Be careful," she warned. "The Chaos I knew was peaceful, but this one is enveloped in rage. You won't be able to get through to him. He won't listen. He won't understand."

As if to prove her point, the water monster crashed a few more buildings, sending a few more people running out of the structures.

All around the globe, thousands watched this apparent stand off between the forces of good and evil on their televisions, nails in mouths, on the edges of their seats. Millions wished the hero luck. Others merely stared in sorrow and cursed him out for not acting quicker.

Tikal turned to face the blue hero, her eyes sad. "He used to be a hero, protecting thousands of Chaos' lives. But now? He's only a monster."


	16. Guardian

Battle: Start!

The words flashed above his head as he ran/flew into battle. He didn't have time to think about what they meant, or why they were there. Super Sonic evaded one torrent of Chaos-induced rain, then another, then dodged a fist made of water. 'Just what CAN'T this boss do?' he wondered rhetorically. He had to stop thinking again when Perfect Chaos body slammed on top of him, leaving him with no other option but to spindash up, hoping to break through before his oxygen count dropped to zero. As he did so, the crazed monster recoiled with a cry of pain, letting Super Sonic know what he had to do if he wanted to inflict some points of damage. After that, it was rather easy, though he had to keep an eye on his Rings. Chaos crashed down, splashing water droplets over the cheering crowd.

Without knowing quite why, Sonic(having devolved back to his natural state) pulled a few breakdance moves, being careful of the slippery pavement, and flashed a thumbs up to the air. "Boss Battle: Cleared!"

Chaos, no longer insane or Perfect, hung its head in shame as Tikal walked over to it. She lifted its chin with her hands so that it looked in her eyes, liquidity nonwithstanding. "Hey. It wasn't your fault, okay? I'm not mad at you."

Sonic raised a nonexistant eyebrow. "It destroys an entire city, and you're not mad at it? Geez, I'd hate to know what it'd hafta do to get you mad at it."

Tikal turned around just long enough to shush him.

"Hey, Mr. Sonic! You did great! You were on TV and everything!" a young voice squeaked.

"Huh?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself!" The young speaker bowed. She was a cute looking rabbit, cream colored, and was wearing an orange dress with a blue bow. She also had what looked like a small version of the boss Sonic had just fought flying around her head. It had a blue bow to match. "I'm Cream, and this is Cheese! Pleased to meet you!"

"Oh. Well, hiya, Cream, Cheese! Do your parents know you're out here talking to me at the site of a major Boss Battle?"

"Yep! Momma Vanilla said I could go see you in person, since I was so excited to see you on TV."

Tikal and Chaos had been standing in shock since Cream introduced herself. The echidna girl stood up on tiptoes to whisper into where Chaos' ear would be. "See? The Chao are still here!~" Chaos nodded happily.

A flock of Chao flew by, congregating around the happy monster-no-longer.

"Ready to go?" Tikal smiled.

Chaos nodded.

A bright pinkish-white light surrounded them, and they were gone.


End file.
